Catamenial bandage and absorption control element therefor



June 17, 1952 w. R. KELLETT Erm.

CATAMENIAL BANDAGE AND ABSORPTION CONTROL ELEMENT THEREFOR Filed April 4, 194e 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 l e l@ V@ Mw June 17, 1952 W. R. KELLETT E I'AL CATAMENIAL BANDAGE AND ABSORPTION CONTROL ELEMENT THEREFOR Filed April 4, 1946 5 Sheeis-Sheeh"L 2 June 17, 1952 w. R. KELLETT ETAL CATAMENIAL BANDAGE AND ABsoRPTIoN CONTROL ELEMENT THEREFOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 4, 1946 fil/6721x0715? W12/221m E KeZ/@/ and louis' '6'. I/eler June 17, 1952 w. R. KELLETT ErAL 2,600,882

CATAMENIAL BANDAGE AND ABSORPTION CONTROL ELEMENT THEREFOR Filed April 4, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 June 17, 1952 w. R. KELLETT TAL 2,600,882

CATANENIAL BANDAGE AND AsoRPTIoN CONTROL ELEMENT THEREEOR Filed April 4, 194e 5 sheets-sheet 5 if I F376 l f5v www a@ atentecl .une i952 CATAMENIAL BANDAGE ANDv ABSORPTION CONTROL ELEMENT THEREFOR William R. Kellett, Menasha, and Louis G. Veler,

Neenah, Wis., assignors to International Cellucotton Products Company, a corporation of Delaware Application April 4, 1946, Serial No. 659,542

, 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to sanitary bandage or napkin construction, to an absorption control element for such a bandage or napkin. and to a method and apparatus for producing such an element. By absorption control element we mean a device which,`in a sanitary napkin or absorbent pad or bandage, will cause distribution or spreading Within the body of the article, of fluid which penetrates to the interior of the article in a restricted or localized area more or less corresponding to a restricted or localized surface area of the article to which fluid is delivered. The purpose of effecting such spreading is to cause more of the absorbing capacity of the article to be utilized than has heretofore normally been experienced.

The present invention has for its main objects the production of an improved sanitary napkin, and the production of an exceptionally effective absorption control element of the character indicated. Other objects are to provide a method for producing the improved element with a minimum of labor, at a low cost, and in such a manner that the product will be hygienically clean, and to provide apparatus which will advantageously produce elements of the character indicated according to the method preferred.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by reference to the following specification and accompanying drawings (five sheets) wherein a selected form of the invention is illustrated.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation illustrating a selected mechanism for producing the material of the improved absorption control element;

Fig. 1a is a diagrammatic illustration of a modication of part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic side elevation of mechanism for further :acting on the material produced by the mechanismof Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a plan of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 'l is a section on the line 1 1 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a more or less schematic section of a detail of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 9 is a perspective illustrating the product in the form in which it is wound into roll form by the mechanism shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. `10 is a perspective of a single absorption spreading element embodying the invention, and

(Cl. 12S-290) Fig. 11 is partially a side elevation, and partially a cross section through the improved sanl-` tary napkin.

In the manufacture of sanitary napkins. an absorbent pad unit is cut from a continuous web of the pad material.

These waste pieces may be utilized in the production of new paper but for that purpose they have a relatively minor value.

According to the present invention, such waste pieces of pad material, whether embodying a plurality of relatively superposed plies of crepev tissue paper or a body of loosely felted absorbent liber-like material usually called uff, or both.

may be converted into material and embodied in webs or sheets from which the improved absorp-l tion control elements and sanitary napkins may b e cut. Such waste pieces of material may be discharged by the napkin making machines into ducts which deliver the pieces to a suitable cyclone or other collector. From such collector the pieces are conveyed to a conduit l (Fig. 1) y lnto the upper end of'a cyclone collector 2. The

pieces are ultimately delivered by the cyclone or withdrawn from the lower end of the cyclone by a centrifugal blower 3, the inlet of which is connected to the discharge end of the cyclone 2 by a conduit 4. The discharge side of the blower 3 has-,connected to it -a conduit 5 whichas shown at S (Fig. 4), passes through the wall of a con-- duit 1 which is covered with heat insulation 8. The condmt 5 continues within the conduit 8 and emerges from the latter as indicated at 9 (Fig. I).

By this arrangement it 'will be seen that the Y in its velocity and in its fibrous material content will be carried through said conduit 5.

The fibrous material the conduit 5 within the casing l are sized with suitable moisture resistant y of any suitable composition.

microcrystalline, cent refined 140 produces a sizing material which is reasonably stable when applied to the fibrous materialwhich is to be sized.

- The ends of the pads arey usually rounded oli, such rounding resulting inl the production of some waste pad material;

pieces passing through I sizing, such` as wax i One suitable com` position of wax consists of about 25 per cent of F. melt wax and 75,pe1V F. melt paraffin. This mixture The wax mixture is sprayed into the air borne stream of fibrous material pieces by means of either one of a pair of suitable spray heads I0,

I (Figs. 5 and 6) which delivers its spray of molten or liquid wax through an opening II in an angular wallportion lI2 vformed in theconduit 5. There isfoneJ-,opening II for each of,fthev sprayers. The spray heads I0, I0 are supplied with compressed air through a suitable compressed air hose or pipe I3 located outside of the 10 conduit 5 but inside of the casingfl. Waxfis supf.-` plied to the respective spray heads by=means:of hoses or pipes I4 and I5 through asuitable valve- I8 which is controlled by a solenoid` I1.

Wax is delivered to the valve IB. by a.suppl y 1.5 pipe I8 which is connected with suitable pumping mechanism for delivering the wax under apredetermined pressure. It is preferableithat the? wax be pumped to the spray nozzles by means lofi a positive displacement gearpump (not shown) althoughany pump` .which.{`wi11, produce .thede-, siredksteady flowI of waxvmaybe employed.. Com--` pressedair at from about to 60 pou'ndSllerk square inch. pressure. producesz a satisfactory sprayin thearrangementshown.. Y' 2 The conduit 5 is reduced somewhatjn cross sectign`as-it approachesgthe spray nozzle opening- I I.` theuppe r wall lportion 5a of the con? duit in the bend. immediately. before ,the spray opening being arranged` in an eccentric .rela- 30 tionship to the lower Wall portion as represented in 5?! This arrangement facilitates the prof.; visi'in'uoithe angular wall, I2 for thespray open-.Q ings I(without.producinganyinwardly project-.7.

struction in the conduit 5. f '35 esof brousmaterialare indicated uat I9 in Figu, .these piecesrepresenting.an airborne I fof such iibrous material pieces .which ,f emanatefrom the production of sanitary nap` kinhlpads'asalready explained. As thepiece .s 40 I9 pass..throughthejsprayv or fine'. shower of. mole ten xwaxtlfiey become more .or less .cnripletelyav coate,d with thelwaxand to some..extent, im-- preg nated-` with .the. .same.

In order to preventwcooling.; and setting .of 45 waxen the conduit ,5, itis heated=- l y meansy lof y hotail: delveredvpto thecasing 'I froma heater .g 20 (Eig, .4X .through i'whichf air is blown1byv a suitable blower. 2 l. The .heater 2 0 Vmayr be an electric'gsteamor any other suitable .type of rgs() heater .which .hasithe required-heating capacity.. Theliot air lis'- recirculated, the end of the ycasl ing ,'Iufromwhieh .the conduitemergeslas shown i at SL-Lmlia Lbenaconnectedtea .heatinsulated..n Y return p'ipef22rwhich is .connected .totheV inlet 55 end pfsthesaidyblower,2I. The ,blowers v3 andi2 I maybe driven .by anyfsuitable Ameansnot .here-f in shown.

By` .thus` heatingthe conduit 5 .anyheat tliquew. iledcgsizfilig material 'will beV keptin a,liquef iedy 60 con'ditlgnfso that thebrous material pieces passdnglthrough the conduit will serve toA wipe-` sucl' 1 liq'uid from ktheinside surface ofA the fpipe as angincident to the passage; of-y s aid stream of Y pieces through theupipe.

The spray nozzle] 0 may be housed ina .chamberlforme'd by awall. 23 and aremoyablecover 24 y(Fig. ,5)1 The. wallv 23.may. form apart `of thecasin'gV 'land said wall .is preferab1y .pro vided with anlopeningsuch as indicated. at 25, to .7o permit' azlimitedamount of hotairtoenterthe. housing oi thenozzle ,I0 so as to maintain itat a temperature at which its spraying operatiOIlvv mayipeemcientlx carried fon. Y

The wax delivery pipes I4. I5 andial. ande'lll the compressed air pipe I3 are preferably located Within the hot air jacket as shown to thereby aid in maintaining the sizing material at the desired spraying temperature. Means, not shown, are provided for automatically opening one` spray nozzle inthe event that one being used becomesplugged, Thesenozzles are preferabiy'aiternateiy used.'

At Ilits outlet end, the conduit 5 is connected to a hammer mill 25 so as to deliver the sizecoated. pieces -ofhbrous material to said mill for .l disintegration.-v

The hammer mill,26 is a standard piece of equipment consisting.. of swinging arms pivoted on alcentral rotorzwhi'ch is driven at a considrable rate of -speed.. The pivoted arms travel atsuch a high peripheral speed that they effectively-'knock 'apart whatever material they engagertoethereby disintegrate the same. Since the paper material which enters the hammer mill is of arbrous nature, the disintegration .of the.;

pieces @results in the, reduction ,ofthe piecesgtov a more. or less shreddedorilberflikeormalthough not necessarily. into. individual ibers.,

5 Thedisintegratedmaterial is I neenough thatm, it maybe deposited inv aunformly thick loosely` feltedlayer.Vl The processingof the materialin theghammer ,millservesto efectdistribution of the locating-. of sizing material to substantially all of Y. the fibers Y,While f also disintegrating, the

Instead; of spraying .thestreampi `waste inaterialin; the: conduit v5 .with the .sizing material..

the vx sizing materiahmay -be sprayed vinto the mill,lit self., should preferablybe heated,.to.,.a

temperature well .above vthe, meltingpoint .of wax. andv to ythatend, .the fmill maybe jacketed for` heatingand heat reduction. purposes.A

In another arrangement, p iecespr sheets ,of. y brous material maybe runbetweenone. vor-moral.; pairs lof rcoatingrolls which. maybe arranged.. to apply the desiredsizing ;material on `the sur-. y faces .of the piecesor vsheetswhich maythen beI fed directlyY-to-theghammer mill to betherebyv disintegrated,l or vtomeans-for rst shreddingl the:l coated materialV and .then vto the hammer .l mill.` A typical arrangement of this fkind =is il.-y lustratedin Fig.-1a wherein a-vvebvoiv Daper'pulp-yr P is continuously advanced by variable speed. y feed rolls F, first between a heatedfroll *Handf a wax applying roll' W `and then linto-a hammer s Wax-is supplied= in measured quantity to the rollW by azknurled or etched roll E'which rotates in a-bath of moltenwax S. Theber material.dischargedffrom`v millI M, shredder or the like.

the mill M is preferably delivered by the blower B te an attrition.millrhammerf'mill or the-like i.

for further Vbreaking down .the waxed board ma- By heatingthe pulpboard, the wax -is'cau'sed to penetrate the yboardvtoa greater extent ythan ifA applied to the board; at room temperature.Y Thorough .distribution of the wax'is thereby@ facilitated.

Anotherarrangementis; to preparesheets of,

beater sized pulp and to feed.v such sized vpulp nuff forming iiber form. In some instances, it may be desirable to pass the material from the first hammer mill to a second hammer mill to reduce the material to the desired degree of iineness.

Sizinglmaterial other than wax may be used, if desired. For example, gum rosin or synthetic resins may be used and applied by Whatever method is best suited to their particular characteristics.

In the present arrangement, the hammer mill is suitably supported on a frame structure 2'! and driven from a source of power not shown, through the agency of a pulley or the like, represented at 28 (see Figs. 1 and '7). The mill has a discharge opening or outlet covered bya screen 29 (Fig. 7). The screen may be of such size that only fibers of a predetermined fineness will pass through it for delivery to the loosely felted layer forming means. A screen of about 1/8 inch mesh gives. a suitable type or flneness of disintegrated material or fluff. Incident to the disintegration of the pieces of fibrous material, the hammer mill effects distribution of the sizing wax which is initially in the outer layers of the pieces, the result being that the sizing material is uniformly present throughout the entire mass of the discharged fluff".

The sized u" passes through the discharge screen 29 and is guided downwardly in a conduit 30 which is of approximately rectangular form in cross section but which expands downwardly as shown in Fig. 1.

A screen or other pervious conveyor 3l is supported on a pair of rolls 32 and 33 which are suitably mounted for rotation, one or both of said rolls being driven by means not shown. The speed at which the conveyor is driven may be variable so that it may be caused to travel at a speed which will permit the fluff layer of desired thickness to be accumulated on the screen (or on a tissue paper web delivered to the screen) incident to the travel thereof under the lower end of the conduit 30. A roll 34 of unsized crepe tissue l paper 35 is suitably supported so that the web 35 may be delivered to the conveyor 3|, a guide roll 36 being provided in juxtaposition to said conveyor screen to position the paper web on the face of said conveyor.

As shown in Fig. 1, the upper reach of the conveyor travels to the right as indicated by the arrow, hun represented at 31 descending yand being deposited on the tissue paper web. A layerof such iiuff will be accumulated on the tissue paper web, the depth of the layer being of course dependent upon the speed at which the tissue paper web traverses the discharge end of the conduit 30 and the volume of fluff in the descending stream in the conduit 30. At the outlet side of the discharge end of the conduit 30 there is provided a roll 38 which serves to more or less smooth the top of the fluff layer and to slightly compress it. The rolls 36 and 38 may be driven by any suitable means (not shown) to avoid the creation of any resistance to the movement thereunder of the tissue web and fluff layer respectively.

To aid the deposition of the fiuif on the tissue web in its passage under the end of the conduit 30, a suction box 39 is located under the upper reach of the belt 3| and connected by a suitable conduit 40 (see Figs. 1 and 3) `to a suction pump 4I which serves to create more or less of a vacuum in said suction box to thereby pull the fluff material into more-or less intimate engagement with the tissue web 35 and the particles of duff ma- 6 terial into more or less intimate engagement with each other. Y

To control the suction effect at various trans verse sections of the conveyor, the suction box is advantageously divided into a plurality of longitudinally extending partitions such as indicated at 42 (Fig. 7), the outlet ends of which may be controlled by dampers such as represented at 43 (Fig. 1). The dampers 43 may be individually controlled for each channel or they may be interconnected so as to maintain a relatively fixed relationship to eachother and so as to produce the same proportioning of vacuum in the channels in all positions of the dampers.

Another roll 44 of unsized crepe tissue paper 45 is suitably supported near the outlet side of the conduit 30 and the web 45 of that roll is guided into superposed relation to the fluff layer by means of a suitably mounted guide roll 45. The guide roll 43 may be driven, if desired, to avoid any resistance to the passage of the tissue 45 or to aid in the feed of the tissue 45 into place on the fluff layer. The fluff layer is represented at 41 in Fig. 1.

The sandwich thus formed comprising top and bottom tissue paper Webs and an intervening layer of loosely felted pulp is then preferably rolled up into a roll 48 by suitable winding mechanism, such as represented at 43. The winding mechanism 49 may be of any known form and is more or less diagrammatically represented by the rolls 49.

The roll 48 may be removed from the winding mechanism 43 and delivered to supporting means;A such as represented at 50 of an embossing ma"A chine 5I which next acts on the composite bat of material to interconnect the tissue webs and iiu layer to form a unitary structure frame. 'Ihe embossing machine 5l embodies upper and lower rolls 52 and 53 respectively of which the lower roll 53 may have a smooth surface 54 as shown in Fig. 8, and the upper roll a longitudinally grooved or fiuted surface providing upstanding ribs 55. is guided between these rolls with the result that the bat is highly compressed particularly in the areas engaged by the surfaces of the ribs 55. The roll 53 alone may be .positively driven, the roll 52 being freely rotatable and driven as an incident to friction resulting from the passage of the bat 53 between the rolls. The roll 52 may be urged against the roll 53 under a pressure on the order of about 1100 pounds per inch of nip; that is to say, 1100 pounds per inch of roll length, such pressure being sufcient to consolidate the fibers of the top and bottom tissues and the intervening layer of fluir to such an extent that the parts become effectively united.

The ribs 55 of the embossing roll 52 are prefer-v ably in the form of herringbone ribs; that is to say, the opposite halves of the ribs are arranged at complementary angles so that there will at all times be contact between a rib of the roll 52 and the roll 53 thereby avoiding any bumping effect which might occur if the ribs were disposed in parallel relation to the action of the roll.

The embossed bat 51 which emerges from between the rolls 52 and 53 is next guided to mechanism for slitting the bat into strips of desired width and for winding the strips into rolls. Such slitting and winding mechanism is represented diagrammatically at 58 (Fig. 2), the embossed web being guided around a roll 59 against which one or more slitters, such as represented at 60, act to slit the bat into strips of the required The bat of material represented at 56 wdthi.- v From fthe guider.' roll y59 thee; strips;farei.;` guided properly to winding mechanism whichvis. here A1rer res-ented as comprising a pair. of drivenrolls.6 Thewinding mechanism may. 0fcourse be of any suitable-.character and-isfmerely ,diag..

eramm'aticallvI :represented.bythe` m11v 6l. 1

The slittedembossed web ijsrmoreporl less diagrammaticallyrepresentedin Fig. 9 wherein fthe.-y y

widthmofl the ;web is representedas .being slit into-v Y six strips:byisuitably'spaced slits 62,. Each ofthe into its, own roll by thewinder l 1 Inthe-j productionpof' sanitarymapkinaa rolled 4- strip 63 will be `suitably@mountedso -thatthe. Q

strip;mayfbe fedgpfrom the =ro1l into sandwich porY sition betweenotherparts of thesanitary napkin.;

pad; and.` from the ,resulting composite structure portions of thefre.quired.pad .width- Will-be cut in.I

accordance withfknown practice. y

The ,absorption control=element .produced yand embodiedfinja sanitarynapkin bythe said means, is represented alonein Fig.r10 wherein the'length4 'rheffmfr-.-maria1fm thefmyersts amiss 1s quitepsimilarto the Afluir material which enters" into=theconstructioniof ther absorption control element-:butjit is,'.of course, not sized. vOutside of the fluff layers 65 and 66, there are layers .61

andj.frespectivelybf absorbent crepev tissue" paper, .these layers each; comprising a plurality of pliesofcrepe vtissuefpaper.preferably arranged with .theeline' of-,creping extending lengthwise of` the napkin, this being also true of the direction of creping-in lthecrepe tissuepapercover plies of the absorption:controlelement 64.

The crepetissueglayers 6l and lextendendl. wise .beyond-the'opposterfends of the fluff layers 65 andl 66 and havetheir opposite .ends .united by means ofpressureas indicated at 69 in accordance with.. the teaching; of Reissue Patent No.v

21,076 to Glomstea-d; May-9.4939..

The usual-gauzegjacketis applied -to the ab-y sorbent pad, lsuch gauze Ajacket being represented y at lo, Athe-samegghaving asingle ply over thetop surfaceof the-pad,.and tWo plies over'at least L of the element corresponds -to'the widthi-L of I the strip 63 and the width W of the element correspondsto the width ofy the sanitarynapkinpad produced.

The'control element i'thus produced com prises top,andbottom'crepeetissue paper membersf f andan'interveninglayer of sizedzfluff..4 The sizing in the fluff is" quite1.uniformly,distributed.so-

that the flufis'effectiveito resistpenetration by moisture for a considerable length of time and* penetrates-'the gauze jacketand the tissue and until fthe-absorbent lmaterial-on one'side of the" element as in asanitarylfnapkiniis .Well .1oaded.:. Thecontrol element produced-in accordance with this invention thus acts. somewhat in the nature of abaflle.; However,.,the `'crepingin theftissueA paperpcovers of :the element, .and .the'highlycom--.

pressed .longitudinally `extendingzones inthe unaY sizedzcover plies'of .theelement provide a Adegree of accelerated capillaryfaction: which' also .tends to spreadthe Varea of absorption.: Theldescribed element .is highly effective 1in. asanitary napkin n to prevent,so-calledistrike'through; i'..e.*.:the pasI sageof absorbed fluids directly YVfrom onefside of the napkinto the other, and isthus.azhighly advantageous construction; 1

In theproduction of` 'the .element it '.would, of course, be possible :to direct vthe composite'. pad

directlyirom between the rol1=46'and theicon.-V veyor screen 3l (Figi.l 1)..tofthe embossing mechanismfbut for practical purposesit is preferredto Wind up the :composite-bat andl to transfer rollsI thereof to the embossing machine.- As a. practical rnattenf the speediat whichi the Acomposite vbat is formedby the apparatusgshown in Fig. lr-iszcon- Y siderablyless than thespeed at which'rthe em bossing mechanism may advantageouslybeirun.

Hence, :the embossing machine-.need be .operated only intermittently to emboss..the composite bat producedby asingle unit of mechanism,.such.as shown in Fig. 1..

A sanitary bandage-.embodying theimproved absorptioncontrob element is illustrated in Fig.

11. It comprises the absorption control-element 64 disposed :intermediatel layers `orplies .65 or 66- of absorbent fluff materialzg These-layers of,1 fluff materialthus juxtaposed with the control element, .comprise Y a .multiplicity of, absorbent celluf lose `fibers arrangedA` in-haphazard relationshipA tol produceawery softabsorbent mass which; be-` cause of A.the haphazar'darrangement of.- the fibers,Uv has nl); predominantgrain or other` characteristic g predominantly any pnedirectionr. f

a porticnof the bottom surface :incident .to' theV overlapping of marginal portions of the v,gauze jacket which is formed-of a sheet of gauze wrappedtransversel-y ,around the fpad. The gauze jacket extendsfbeyondthe ends. of the absorbent pad body to form the usual attachment tabs.

In a-sanitary bandage, iiuid deposited in some localizedl area on onel face of the pad quite readily flufflayers -of the :pad on the side thereof s on which the fluid is deposited. The crepe'tissue layer.; such vas 61,. has adesirable tendencyto spreadthe 'areaof fluid absorption lengthwise of the padlfrom the localized area of uiddeposition, but that tendency isnot strongenough to prevent a part of the fluid frompenetrating towards the interior ofv the 'pad and towards the opposite.

ing action .beingin the-nature of the action provided. by the so-calledv equalizer unit lshown in Heitmeyer .Patent 1,863,333..v The sized material in the-core of the controlfelement thus contributes materially toward fthe. equalizingA effect of the compressed zonesand. this so-called vequalizing y' eiect may. within certainpracticallimits, be amplified by adding additional unsized tissue -plies to the surface of thecontrol element.-

Because. of. the haphazard arrangement of the bers .in the..pad .or. layer 64, the Waxor otherwise waterproofed external surfaces of the lbers .produce a.Y more..or .less -labyrinthic mass or maze of waterproobwalled .tortuous passageways through saidlayer and many of said pasT sageways will be .more or'lessrestricted :or in vv terrupted by liber pieceswwhich. intersect-.suchpassageways.v Because of the Waterproof wall surfacesof .these tortuouspassageways and the restricted- `or interrupted. and tortuous: dorm` thereof, said. passageways-1are'l not Acapillary. in

nature but insteadfghavefnthe capacityytoresist. the flow .fofiluid-intoiandthroughfgthey samer. ljloweyer; when.. the-5padisworn in .the usual x manner, leg and body movements tend to repeatedly compress and release the napkin so that an undulating pressure pumping effect is produced which induces such entrance and flow of fluid. This effect is somewhat similar to the effect of immersing a rubber sponge in water and squeezing and releasing the sponge to induce thorough wetting of the sponge. The waterproofing of the bers helps to preserve the normal resiliency of the bers so that said control element does not break down or mat together when wetted but instead tends to maintain its distended resilient body form and this in turn tends to resist roping or stringing of the napkin when in use, and also to preserve the fluid holding or storing ability and capacity of the element.

The sized core of the control element 64 does.

,absorbed fluid and pressure exerted on the control element as already explained. The absorbent layers, such as 66 and 68 on the opposite side of the pad, may then take up additional uid delivered to the pad in said localized area but absorption will then usually occur over a major portion, if not all of the area of contact between the control element and the absorbent layer 66. This follows from the fact that a corresponding area of the initially wetted side of the pad is well loaded with fluid and tends to effect penetration of the control element over a correspondingly well spread area as distinguished from the localized area of fluid application.

In some instances, penetration of the control baille may be completed in a concentrated or localized area due perhaps to extreme wetness of the initially wetted side of the pad in such an area. In such a case, the control element cover sheet on the lower or then dry side of the pad will promote spreading of the penetrating fluid from such localized area in about the same manner as above explained in respect of the action of the other cover sheet. Hence, the last wetted cover sheet serves as a safety measure to insure fluid delivery to a major portion of the area of the lowermost or outermost layer of ilufl absorbent material. Furthermore, if the bandage is kept in use for such an extended period that the absorbed fluid actually reaches the remaining tissue layer, said remaining tissue layer will also tend to insure distribution of the iluid throughout the area of the pad.

Various changes may be made in the described structures and arrangements without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims in which some of the specifled elements and steps of procedure may be replaced by equivalent elements and steps without departing from the invention.

We claim:

l. A catamenial napkin pad comprising a layer of liber-like pieces of material which are externally waterproof and haphazardly arranged so as to form a labyrinthic mass of interstices which constitute waterproof-walled tortuous passageways through said layer, said passageways having the capacity to normally resist the entrance of fluid into said passageways and to permit such entrance when a substantial quan- 10 tity of fluid is applied against the pad and the layer is subjected to undulating pressure such as normally occurs in the pad due to body movements under normal conditions of use of the napkin. A

2. In a catamenial napkin, a pad comprising the combination of a layer of fluid absorbing material and a juxtaposed layer of ber-like pieces of material Which are externally waterproof and haphazardly arranged so as to form a labyrinthic mass of interstices which constitute waterproof-walled tortuous passageways through said layer and which passageways have the capacity to normally resist the entrance of fluid into said passageways and the flow of fluid through said last mentioned layer, said passage- Ways also having the capacity to permit such fluid entrance and flow when the same is induced by sufficient fluid pressure such as occurs when said rst mentioned layer contains a substantial quantity of fluid which is carried thereby into contact with said layer of :ber-like pieces and the pad is subjected to undulating pressure such as normally occurs in the pad due to body movements under normal conditions of use of the napkin, said layer of fiber-like pieces of material also having the capacity to retain fluid in said passageways thereof to thereby supplement the absorption capacity of said layer of fluid absorbing material.

3. In a catamenial napkin, a pad comprising the combination of a pair of layers of fluid absorbing material and an intervening layer of fiber-like pieces of material which are externally Waterproof and haphazardly arranged so as to form a labyrinthic maze of interstices which constitute waterproof-walled tortuous passageways through said intervening layer and which passageways have the capacity to normally resist the entrance of fluid into said passageways and the W of fluid through said intervening layer, said passageways also having the capacity to permit such fluid entrance and flow when the same is induced by sufficient fluid .pressure such as occurs when one of said layers of absorbing material contains a substantial quantity of fluid which is carried thereby into contact with said intervening layer and the pad is subjected to undulating pressure such as normally occurs in the pad due to body movements under normal conditions of use of the napkin, said intervening layer also having the capacity to retain fluid in said passageways thereof to thereby supplement the absorption capacity of said pair of layers of uid absorbing material.

WILLIAM R. KELLETT. LOUIS G. VELER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,773,956 Crane Aug. 26, 1930 2,189,840 Simison et al Feb. 13, 1940 2,296,341 Fourness Sept. 22, 1942 2,336,745 Manning Dec. 14, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 432,825 Great Britain Aug. 2, 1935 535,916 Great Britain Apr. 25, 1941 

